Ghostbusters in the Beyond
by KatLeePT
Summary: Peter thought he'd never quit complaining about being slimed. Future Fic. Character Death.


He stood before his nightstand mirror, his hands placed on either side of its top that was marked with age, and looked at his reflection through bleary eyes. He had to squint to make out his image, but just as he was beginning to see what a mess he was this morning, his self-proclaimed sidekick barreled through the glass. He slammed into Peter's face with such speed that, though he tried to wrap his little arms around the Ghostbuster's neck, he didn't manage and instead flew straight through him.

"YUCK!" Peter wiped away the green slime with which he had been splattered daily, and nightly, for years now. "Spud, aren't you ever going to stop that?!"

"Sorry, Petey." The little, green ghost squirmed in the air, twisting his skinny hands as though he was truly ashamed. Peter knew better, though. He knew this had become like a game to them over their time together, and Spud was no sooner going to stop sliming him than Peter himself was going to stop fussing about the ghost.

He never thought his life would come to this. He'd thought he would have settled down long ago and had a bunch of kids and grandkids by now. If he hadn't settled down, though, if he'd continued to be the ladies' man he had been in his youth, he had still thought he'd at least be surrounded with his friends. He'd also thought he would have gotten rid of the annoying ghost years ago. But none of that had happened.

He looked down at his hands, and for just a moment, he thought he could see right through them. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He must be even more exhausted than he'd thought.

"Petey," Slimer's voice was suddenly full of concern, "are you feeling okay?"

Peter looked up at him, curious, and a bit worried if he was truthful with himself, that Slimer's voice had suddenly become so small, low, and concerned. "Yeah, Spud, I'm fine. A little tired, but when aren't we tired these days? Or at least me. You probably don't even get tired, being a ghost and all."

"Petey . . . " Spud trembled; his tail shook.

"What's wrong, Spud? I'd say you look like you'd seen a ghost, but you're the only ghost stupid enough to float around Ghostbusters Headquarters."

"Not really."

"Come on, Spud. We gotta quit fooling around and get ready to teach the kids. They've got a lot to learn if they're ever going to be able to follow in our footsteps."

"Petey . . . "

"Spud - "

Slimer hit him again, this time with enough force to spin him around as he came out his backside. Peter gasped, but the scream he felt somehow got strangled in his throat. "Sp-Sp-Spud!" With every sputter, his voice rose another notch. "I've gotta be dreaming! Tell me I'm dreaming!"

"I'm afraid not, Peter."

Peter whirled around again at the sound of the voice he hadn't heard in well over ten years. "Egon! Ray! Winston!"

"It's time, Pete," Winston spoke softly from the left side of the glowing Ghostbusters trio.

"N-No . . . It can't be . . . I haven't . . . There's so much more I've got to do!"

"You haven't gotta do anything, buddy, 'cept come with us."

"I'm dreaming! I've gotta be dreaming!"

Slimer's arms wrapped around Peter's head. He hugged him tightly. "Aw, Petey." For the first time, Peter wasn't bothered by the slime. He stared, aghast, at his friends.

"It's not so bad," Winston offered. "I still get to work on Ecto."

"And I have consulted with some of the greatest minds history has ever known."

"You finally got to talk to Einstein, huh?"

"Yes, and some of the theories he has developed since his death are truly amazing!"

Peter rolled his eyes as Egon started spewing what he still called geektalk, but then his same, deep, and dark eyes turned back to his bed and what still laid in it. He trembled, but he didn't quite feel cold. He also wasn't hot, and he could barely feel the slime that he knew Spud was splattering all over him. "This can't be happening, man," he croaked.

"It is," Ray softly told him, coming closer.

"Or, rather, it already has," Egon amended, ceasing his story of intellectual discourse with Einstein, Freud, and Nostradamus.

"There's nothing that can be done about it now, Peter. You've got to come with us. It's too late to change anything."

"But there was so much more I was going to do . . . "

"You'll be a real ladies' man again in the ghost world," Ray offered. "You've still got all your phantom limbs and eyes."

"I've got the moves, too," Peter mumbled without thinking. "I always killed them at the senior center." His eyes flitted back to his bed again. "Bad choice of words," he muttered.

"Things have really improved since Slimer chose to stay with you, too," Ray added. "There's all the food you can eat, whatever you want, doughnuts, ice cream, cake, hot dogs - And you never gain a pound!"

"Of course not," Peter muttered. "Where'd you put it without a body?" He gawked at his own body left behind in his bed.

"Peter," Ray spoke more softly, coming forward and taking his hands. Peter looked at him through big, sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry, man, but there's nothing more we can do. Hey, you got twenty years on me!"

Winston and Egon touched his shoulders. Slimer's tail wagged as he slipped behind his head to give the guys room, but still he hugged him as they, too, embraced him. "We're back together, man," Winston told him, smiling, "like it or not."

"I did miss you guys."

"We missed you, too."

"So," Peter said at last, gathering his courage and facing the last thing he'd thought impossible, "what do Ghostbusters do now that we're ghosts?"

"The same thing we always did."

"Keep the peace."

"And talk to Einstein."

"And whoever else you want to who's passed."

"You think I could meet Marilyn Monroe?"

They laughed. "Same, ol' Pete."

"I'll introduce you," Ray spoke quietly.

"Ray, you old dog!" Peter scratched his friend's head as, together, the Ghostbusters walked out of the walls of their headquarters and on into what awaited them in life beyond. Slimer still rode Peter's shoulders, but he no longer noticed the slime.

The End


End file.
